Midterm Writing Exam [Draft]

The story of Hemingway "A Day's Wait» could probably be brought to screen in a million of different ways. Fortunately, I have the perfect one that would satisfy a large audience as well as critics.

The setting and length must be at first well represented in order for the story to be good. There should be three scenes: one for the beginning up to the hunting which will be the second one, and the last one will be what fallows the hunting. The story itself is short, so there is no need for the program to be too long. If someone waits watching "A Day's Wait" for two hours and find out that the young boy was just fool, it will be a disaster. It must be short and without any excess of presentation. The type of bed, the cloths, the medical supplies and the gun used should be enough to show the time and place of the story.

As for the boy's conflict and suspense, it will be centered on the character's mind and in a way that the surrounding reflects it as well. There should be nothing more than a French school manual beside his bed to indicate the ending. All scenes should be filmed in one shot so that it feels like the sight of the man who is with the kid, however without hiding him from view. At the beginning, the kid stands beside his bed, looking depressed and anxious. The more the story goes one, the more the kid will look lost and stressed. The gleam in his eyes will fade as the day fades on. To make the viewer feel the waiting of the kid, the camera will be put beside his head as if we were transported into his on sight, and the sun going down by the window will be shown fast forwarded. This will ensure that a whole day is felt, and that each scene is filmed in a single shot. As for the shooting scene, each bird killed will make the boy shiver, feeling more sad and miserable.

Also, the music in the program is very important by its near absence, leaving the entire space to ambient sounds. I picture this story without any music in most of it. Without it, the audience will feel uneasy and less comfortable watching the kid. But, to prevent boredom, the ambient sounds should take a lot of place and be amplified. All along, a faded radiator sound and the one of a radio too are heard, as well as the clock tickling, strong and strong as the story goes on. At the end, while the young boy is confused is smiles and cries by his joy of knowing he will live, the radio volume will be raised by someone else in the room who was sitting all along beside it. The only real music of the program that will be heard there from fainted to loud is The Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Its only purpose is to make the ending seeming more profound and to amplify the preciousness of life that the boys rediscover.

This version of the story will be slightly different in themes and symbolism from the original in some few aspects so that it will be more appreciated by the audience. As for the similar aspects, the theme of longing for death will be very present, even amplified. The theme of judging too quickly will be slightly dropped to let the first one be more important. The single window represent his escape from death, but the sun reminds him that his time his failing. A silent man dressed in a black suit is seated beside the radio on a stool which is right next to the window, representing Death looking straight at him. At the end, the boy will learn the same truth about the thermometers, and will still cry. Instead of only crying, he will smile as well, clearly showing that he is happy to live much longer. The program should end right after few seconds of crying and the camera will be zooming out filming only the boy with then a slow fadeout, leaving the music alone and much louder. This way of filming the ending is used to make the viewer feel the theme of imminent death and its release in a more powerful way.

With this proposal for the program, I assure you good ratings and comments. This story is the first I try from Hemingway, and his particular way of telling a story without any useless details will always be interesting on TV.